my last sigh (of the night)

wow.  i'm a little bit disturbed.  and strangely relieved and at peace at the same time.  i suppose salman rushdie has that effect on people.  how else could he have gotten padma lakshmi??   

The Moor's Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie

this book was frightening to me.  not so much in the traditional sense of a horror movie or car crash- but more like watching a car crash in a movie.  it is psychologically upsetting, however you aren't entirely involved- you are not in the sphere of influence necessary for total fear that will stick with you when you go to bed at night.  i may be getting a little too philosophical.... sorry about that.  this book wasn't as much of a mind fuck as The Satanic Verses which may stay with me for the rest of my life- the images of the butterflies on the pilgrimmage to Meccah and the man transforming into a goat in the back of a van..... those will be with me for a while.  when i am old and gray, recounting stories of my youth in a nursing home, i will probably talk about these twisted fairy tales.  grimm's tales for english speaking indians.  that's what salman rushdie writes.  yes, that's it.  this might not make sense to you, but i can definitely feel the sprout of an idea here.  rushdie writes memorable shit.  'nuff said.  how could anyone possibly live in such dystopias?  i'm about to read cormac mccarthy's the road (not looking forward to the post-apocalyptic horrors shared between man and son, but my group members insist.... what could i say?).  maybe i am just on a dystopic kick.  i wonder if india is really like this?  surely not- no where can be so corrupt and violent, right?  with drugs being smuggled in baby powder shipments and artists mixing with politicians to result in murderous fueds and trickery- husbands killing wives and real life romeo and juliet mix ups.  does such a place exist?  is this the world we live in? i sure hope not.  and if it is, i'm parking myself in montana.  oh wait, i forgot about the unibomber though.... (i swear me and my friend found his abandoned hide out in the woods when we were kids....)
alright, thats enough for tonight.  it's best i quit thinking and go do some school work.  ha.
good night*

#14: the giver

guess who just read The Giver by Lois Lowry in less than the amount of time since writing my last post? that's right- me. SUCK ON THAT, SCHOOL! I remember reading this in the 6th grade, but i'm glad my teachers are making me revisit it, especially after taking my philosophy class- the one about good and evil and utopias and dystopias and right and wrong.... well, you get the point. The Giver is very reminiscent of Ursula Le Guin's "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas." An entire community lives a life of happiness without pain at the expense of one person who contains the suffering for them. This isn't exactly the case with The Giver because that one person that is "honored" with all of this knowledge is also given emotions such as love, joy, and true happiness.... as well as the feeling and sight of sunshine, sky, and, of all things, colors! can you imagine living in a place with no sky? no COLOR? i can't even comprehend it. then of course, you have to wonder how this all relates to God.... is Le Guin's story a fable that criticizes/examines the story of Jesus? How He suffered for our sins on the cross? Then how does Lowry interpret these thoughts into her much lighter version, created to be non partisan reading for children to make them think.... think about choices, and life, and emotions that we can feel.... and to question- what is there that we can't feel? what lies are we being fed? for our happiness or is it some other person's idea of happiness? it's hard to imagine the world we live in as a utopia, but is it a utopia to someone or some group out there?